There are illegal marijuana grow-ops, but what happens when it’s legal cultivation?
The Federal government had plans to scrap its current system (or non-system, depending on who you ask) of allowing medical marijuana users to grow their own supply and replace it with a government-run system of approved growers and quality controlled product. A Vancouver judge threw that into doubt however by issuing an injunction on March 21 that delays the legislation that would have been implemented as of April 1.
There are currently 30,000 legal licences for homegrown pot – that’s a lot of people growing pot where they live, be it in a backyard or a container on the balcony.
What does it mean for homeowners – and potential home buyers?
Illegal marijuana grow-ops are one side of the story. We know they can mean a lot of trouble. Oftentimes, an entire house is used to grow marijuana, with growing lights and humidity maintained at levels that make it a haven for mold growth along with a host of other problems.
What happens if it’s a legal situation?
- If you’re in the market, outside of homeowner disclosure, there would be no way of knowing if the home had been used to grow marijuana. A real estate agent is only obliged to disclose what they’re made aware of.
- If you are a landlord, and especially if, like many people, you live in one part of your home and rent out the rest, what assurance do you have that tenants are growing safely and not damaging your property?
The Solution..?
It’s clear the legal aspects of marijuana cultivation (and if it’s legal in some states down south, will we be far behind?) still need work at the government level. There has to be a better solution than allowing for potential damage to property with no controls in place to minimize that aspect.
What you can do – knowledge is power
You may be able to find out if a home has been used as an illegal grow-op but there’s really no way of finding out about legal, licensed homegrown marijuana cultivation. Mold is perhaps only the start of a long list of problems that includes contamination by toxic chemicals and many other issues that affect indoor air quality and the structure of the house itself.
If you’re looking to buy a property and suspect that it may have been used as a marijuana grow-op, the experienced technicians at Mold Inspections can do indoor environmental assessments and testing for tell-tale signs like mold, yeast, bacteria and other toxic substances.
Know what you are getting into. For Grow-Op & Drug House Testing Services in Toronto, Contact Moldinspections.ca for a hassle-free quote today.
MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and Global news, official supplier to HGTV’s Income Properties with Scott McGillivray and Leave It To Bryan and recommended by local contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a free quote at (416) 575-6111(416) 575-6111.
Grow-ops are common so it takes a lot to make the national news. One such recent case in Calgary is a stark reminder of the link between an unhealthy indoor environment, mold growth and maintaining a liveable home.
Police in Calgary recently arrested two women in connection with a marijuana grow-op that was discovered in what was described as a quiet suburban neighbourhood. Officers found a three-stage grow-op, seizing 743 plants and equipment worth more than $900K.
They found something else too – massively extensive mold infestation.
A police spokesperson commented to the press: “Based on the presence of mold in the home, it would appear this grow-op has been in operation for some time,” said Sgt. Len Dalton in a release. “People underestimate the damage grow-ops can do to a home. Besides mold, there are fire risks, electrical issues, and crime-related violence.”
The home was declared unfit for human habitation by officials.
Your Dream Home?
Yes, the law requires that a real estate agent let you know if a home you’re looking at has been used as a grow-op, but the agent can only do that if:
- The owner has let them know about it.
- The owner actually knew about it him/herself.
That’s the real problem: when a grow-op like this one goes unnoticed for years and then is finally sold without ever being discovered by outsiders. Then you may be buying a host of destructive problems – and mold is perhaps only the start of a long list that includes contamination by toxic chemicals and many other issues that affect indoor air quality and the structure of the house itself.
Knowledge is The Key
If you suspect that a property may have been used as a marijuana grow-op, we can do indoor environmental assessments and testing for telltale signs like mold, yeast, bacteria and other toxic substances.
Know what you are getting into. For Grow-Op & Drug House Testing Services in Toronto, Contact Moldinspections.ca for a hassle-free quote today.
MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and Global news, official supplier to HGTV’s Income Properties with Scott McGillivray and Leave It To Bryan and recommended by local contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a free quote at (416) 575-6111(416) 575-6111.
Marijuana grow-ops have become an unwelcome but pretty routine facet of contemporary life in the GTA. Homes old and new, in upscale or working class neighbourhoods – all can and have been used by organized criminals to grow marijuana.
Marijuana cultivation requires constant moisture and the houses that have served as grow-ops are riddled with problems, including mold and mildew and generally poor indoor air quality.
When You Buy…
When you’re in the market for a new home, you’d like to believe that you’re being given all the information that’s important – such as whether the home was ever used as a marijuana grow-op.
Now, if the real estate agent is aware of such a situation, they are required to let you know under their professional Code of Ethics. But – what if the agent doesn’t know? The actual owner of the home isn’t under any legal obligation to let you know unless you ask them point blank.
The Web to the Rescue
There are websites that can help you get to the bottom of that property that looks perfect from the outside, including:
- Homeverified.ca
- Iverify.com.
These web-based directories can let you know whether a property was ever used as a grow-op or meth lab, or whether an insurance claim was ever made for water damage or sewer backup – all situations that can contribute to a wide variety of problems including widespread mold infestation.
The caveat: Naturally, like anything else on the web, you’ll have to do your homework.
- Verify any information you get online in the real world of public records and documents.
- A good tip? Ask the neighbours.
Remember too that this type of website can only catch those cases where the marijuana growers were caught and prosecuted. What happens if they remain undetected and simply move on after a few years, putting the property on the market to an unsuspecting public?
Knowledge is The Key
If you suspect that a property may have been used as a marijuana grow-op, we can do indoor environmental assessments and testing for telltale signs like mold, yeast, bacteria and other toxic substances.
- Know what you are getting into. For Grow-Op & Drug House Testing Services in Toronto, Contact Moldinspections.ca for a hassle-free quote today.
MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and Global news, official supplier to HGTV’s Income Properties with Scott McGillivray and Leave It To Bryan and recommended by local contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a free quote at (416) 575-6111.
An Etobicoke landlord finds himself in a growing legal battle over a grow-op located in one of his apartments. At issue is the damage he says was done by a couple who grew marijuana under a legal medical marijuana growing license.
Under the legal license, the couple is allowed to maintain several plants as well as store over 2000 grams of dried marijuana on their premises. This landlord isn’t alone. The number of medical growers with legal permits has risen from 500 in 2001 to 37,000 this past year.
The law on medical marijuana changed earlier this year to shift production from small residential growers like this couple to licensed commercial operations, but in the meantime the apartment languishes – and homes and properties are put at risk.
The Damage Done
While in this case, the tenants are insisting their grow-op only used a rundown room in an already dilapidated apartment, there’s no doubt that marijuana cultivation causes significant damage to an indoor environment. The deleterious effects of a grow-op can include:
- Poisonous gas and chemicals
- Biological contaminants
- Poor indoor air quality
- Formation of damaging mold and fungus
- Mold and mildew from intense condensation
- Greater chance of fires occurring
The legal climate is ambiguous and on top of that, history proves that people will grow it legally or not – in the meantime, where does that leave you as a potential homebuyer or rental property owner?
We Can Help
Grow-op testing and clean-ups are among our areas of special expertise. If you suspect your home or property has been used as a marijuana grow-op or you’re thinking of purchasing a property and you have similar suspicions, get help from the experts at MoldInspections.ca. Please call us for a hassle-free quote today.
MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and Global news, official supplier to HGTV’s Income Properties with Scott McGillivray and Leave It To Bryan and recommended by local contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a free quote at (416) 575-6111.
In Ontario, Ontario REALTORS® (OREA) has released a document supporting the reintroduction of a grow-op registry bill. Late last year, OREA commissioned a study that confirmed 93% of Ontario residents do want to know if the home they’re about to buy was used as a grow-op, and 88% support a province-wide registry.
“The prevalence of these homes in Ontario is quite frankly alarming, and REALTORS® want to be able to warn their clients as early in the purchasing process as possible,” an official with OREA says. Disclosure of these facts is now a legal obligation but the registry would be a new step.
A recent story in the Montreal Gazette, however, raises the question of whether the rules on disclosure of former grow-op homes are perhaps too stringent.
The piece looks at the case of homeowners who have listed their home at more than $67,000 less than its market evaluation and still can’t get a bite from prospective buyers due to its history as a former grow-op. The owners have put in thousands of dollars worth of remediation work but still, no one seems willing to take the risk.
The current rules, at least in principle, tend to favour the buyer, particularly in Quebec (the other provinces which require homeowners and brokers to disclose the former grow-op status to potential buyers are B.C. and Ontario). Some real estate brokers in Quebec say the rules are sometimes unfair to properties that have been fully remediated.
Wouldn’t you want to know?
The Risks
Mold is the biggest risk with marijuana grow-ops. Marijuana cultivation requires humid conditions under hot grow lamps. The humidity seeps into the walls, even floors and ceilings, and condensation is chronic around windows. In short, the conditions for mold infestation are ideal.
Other common health risks include:
- Poisonous gas and chemicals
- Biological contaminants
- Poor indoor air quality
- Formation of damaging mold and fungus
- Mould and mildew from intense condensation
- Greater chance of fires occurring
Indoor Environmental Assessments & Testing
Indoor environmental assessments and testing helps detect former Grow Ops.
Before buying your home, or if you suspect it has been used as a ‘drug house’, consider hiring a professional indoor environmental assessment & testing company to do a mold, yeast, bacteria – and other toxic substances – inspection. These contaminates are often associated with grow-ops and meth labs and are health risks.
- Know what you are getting into. For Grow-Op & Drug House Testing Services in Toronto, Contact Moldinspections.ca
Get help from the experts at MoldInspections.ca. Please call us for a hassle-free quote today.
MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and recommended by contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a free quote at (416) 575-6111.
Neighbours of an upscale South Western Ontario neighbourhood took matters into their own hands when they were left with a former grow op house in their midst. Homeowners to either side of the vacant grow house bought the property and recently hired an excavation firm to have it demolished.
A large marijuana grow op was discovered on the property on St. Michaels street in LaSalle, Ontario in November 2011. Police raided the house and seized marijuana crops with an estimated value of $1.3 million.
The grow operation was set up in the basement, where some of the cement blocks had been removed from the walls to access hydro lines illegally. The equipment found and confiscated included electrical transformers and 1,000 watt sodium lights. The owner lived elsewhere in Windsor and had bought the property for the sole purpose of setting up a marijuana grow operation, according to police statements.
The amount of damage that is caused to such a property – especially when there are no residents to take into account – is enormous. A local newspaper reported that the property recently sold for $135,100 – just over half what it sold for a little more than a year earlier. Potential buyers often can’t get insurance, which means they won’t have access to a conventional mortgage.
Some of the neighbours in the tony neighbourhood were surprised to find the grow house on this leafy street, but you can find them anywhere. That’s the big issue with marijuana grow ops – not the ones that are known and discovered, but the majority that are not.
Grow Op Damage
The police know that for every marijuana grow op house they find, a few more remain off their radar. It’s something you need to be cautious of when buying a resale home. Marijuana grow ops can be found in upscale neighbourhoods as well as more modest locales and can cause significant damage within months.
Growing marijuana requires warm, humid conditions that are also ideal for mold growth, and it’s extremely common for former grow op houses to be mold infested, among other things.
Some of the more common health risks include:
- Poisonous gas and chemicals
- Biological contaminants
- Poor indoor air quality
- Formation of damaging mold and fungus
- Mould and mildew from intense condensation
- Greater chance of fires occurring
You Can’t Always Tell
A visual inspection alone won’t tell you about mold that’s hiding inside the walls or floors. The only way you’ll know for sure is with indoor environmental assessments and testing.
Indoor Environmental Assessments & Testing
Indoor environmental assessments and testing helps detect former Grow Ops.
Before buying your home or if you suspect it has been used as a ‘drug house’, consider hiring a professional indoor environmental assessment & testing company to do a mold, yeast, bacteria – and other toxic substances – inspection. These contaminates are often associated with grow ops and meth labs and are health risks.
As Indoor Environmental Assessment & Testing Specialists, you should know that it is ‘home buyer beware’, and that testing for former Marijuana Grow-Op activity has never been more important.
Know what you are getting into. For Grow-Op & Drug House Testing Services in Toronto, Contact Moldinspections.ca
Please call us for a hassle-free quote today.
MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and recommended by contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a free quote at (416) 575-6111.
Don Schultz, the founder of Greenline Academy, offered a course on how to grow marijuana legally at a University of Toronto campus recently. The course was offered to teach people how to become legal growers of medicinal marijuana by getting a license from the federal government and growing it in a small operation.
While the course does offer tips on both the legal and agricultural aspects of growing pot, including a warning about proper ventilation to avoid mold growth, our own experience as a company alone should point to the necessity for a cautious approach to this issue.
Like any party who has witnessed – or in our case, had to clean up after – the damage caused to a dwelling by a marijuana grow op, we’d think very carefully about licensing growing numbers of people to grow pot at home without first ensuring they have the proper facilities to do so.
Grow Op Damage
The police know that for every marijuana grow op house they find, a few more remain off their radar. It’s something you need to be cautious of when buying a resale home. Marijuana grow ops can be found in upscale neighbourhoods as well as more modest locales and can cause significant damage within months.
Growing marijuana requires warm, humid conditions that are also ideal for mold growth, and it’s extremely common for former grow op houses to be mold infested, among other things.
Some of the more common health risks include:
- Poisonous gas and chemicals
- Biological contaminants
- Poor indoor air quality
- Formation of damaging mold and fungus
- Mould and mildew from intense condensation
- Greater chance of fires occurring
You Can’t Always Tell
A visual inspection alone won’t tell you about mold that’s hiding inside the walls or floors. The only way you’ll know for sure is with indoor environmental assessments and testing.
Indoor Environmental Assessments & Testing
Indoor environmental assessments and testing helps detect former Grow Ops.
Before buying your home or if you suspect it has been used as a ‘drug house’, consider hiring a professional indoor environmental assessment & testing company to do a mold, yeast, bacteria – and other toxic substances – inspection. These contaminates are often associated with grow ops and meth labs and are health risks.
As Indoor Environmental Assessment & Testing Specialists, you should know that it is ‘home buyer beware’, and that testing for former Marijuana Grow-Op activity has never been more important.
Know what you are getting into. For Grow-Op & Drug House Testing Services in Toronto, Contact Moldinspections.ca
Please call us for a hassle-free quote today.
MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and recommended by contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a free quote at (416) 575-6111.
Police are looking for a Scarborough couple after a raid netted a cache of nearly 2,000 marijuana plants in a grow operation earlier this month. The townhouse, part of a complex in Scarborough near Midland and Ellesmere Avenues, featured a modified electrical system the authorities are calling a serious fire hazard. The value of the marijuana grow operation is estimated at nearly $1.9 million. The two suspects are being sought on criminal charges.
More than the Utilities
As in this case, the emphasis is often put on things like electrical systems modifications, because of inherent danger and also the diversion of the utility as a criminal act. However, mold is often a lingering and persistent problem in former grow houses long after the utility issues have been sorted out – including toxic black mold infestation.
A “Grow Op” for Mold
Marijuana cultivation requires both heat and humidity, creating tropical conditions indoors and the problems associated with them, including rampant mold growth. Mold can grow anywhere there is moisture, but it particularly loves heat and humidity.
Other health risks include:
- Poisonous gas and chemicals
- Biological contaminants
- Poor indoor air quality
- Formation of damaging mold and fungus
- Mould and mildew from intense condensation
- Greater chance of fires occurring
Grow ops are often found in upscale communities simply because of the set up: larger properties spaced farther apart. Neighbours may not see each other very often even under normal circumstances and preserving a quiet exterior is considered desirable. It allows a grow op to hide in plain sight.
How Can You Know?
If your home – or prospective home – was used as a grow op and was discovered by police, there will be a public record of it. However, even police know that for every one they catch, many more go undiscovered.It won’t be something that’s immediately apparent to the naked eye.
Indoor environmental assessments and testing helps detect former Grow Ops.
Before buying your home, or if you suspect it has been used as a ‘drug house’, consider hiring a professional indoor environmental assessment & testing company to do a mold, yeast, bacteria – and other toxic substances – inspection. These contaminates are often associated with grow ops and meth labs and are health risks.
As Indoor Environmental Assessment & Testing Specialists, you should know that it is ‘home buyer beware’, and that testing for former Marijuana Grow-Op activity has never been more important.
Know what you are getting into. For Grow-Op & Drug House Testing Services in Toronto, Contact Moldinspections.ca
Please call us for a hassle-free quote today.
MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and recommended by contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a free quote at (416) 575-6111.
A recent police raid in a Pickering neighbourhood east of Toronto found a large and sophisticated marijuana grow operation, including more than 1,100 plants estimated at more than $1million in street value.
The elaborate grow op featured diversions to the home’s hydro and water operations. Designed to hide the fact that usage of both electricity and water are way out of whack with typical residential requirements, such utility diversions are common to illegal grow houses.
Marijuana Grow Ops & Mold
Growing marijuana requires certain conditions, including maintaining temperatures between 18 and 27 degrees Celsius and very moist soil conditions. Indoors, it results in higher than usual levels of humidity and constant moisture.
It means that buildings used for marijuana growing create the ideal conditions for mold to also flourish.
To compound the effect, a typical grow op may or may not involve people actually living in the residence, as the conditions understandably result in less than ideal conditions for habitation. The grow op tends to take over, in other words, and other considerations – like proper maintenance – fall by the wayside.
The Grow Op Inspection
The large Pickering bust occurred on a quiet residential street. In fact, criminals will select just this kind of “nice neighbourhood” to hide their grow op activities, and a residence may never be identified as such. For every grow op they find, police know that several more will remain hidden and continue to operate.
When you go to buy, a regular home inspection may not find mold growth from a former grow op, toxic mold that’s hidden behind walls or flooring. The only way to complete peace of mind is a specific mold inspection designed for grow-op detection.
Get help from the experts at MoldInspections.ca. Please call us for a hassle-free quote today.
MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CP24’s Wylde on Health, CTV and recommended by contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a free quote at (416) 575-6111.
Despite tougher enforcement and legislative tools like increased sentences for Hydro theft, marijuana grow-ops continue to be a concern in the GTA.
When fire crews responded to a house fire on the evening of November 7 in Brampton, they found an apparent grow-op. Firefighters reported seeing marijuana plants on all floors of the building as they battled the blaze and police are investigating the alleged operation.
Typical to many illegal grow-ops, the home was vacant and it was neighbours who contacted the fire department after seeing smoke. The house had actually been uninhabited for years and the kids in the neighbourhood reportedly called it a “haunted house”.
It may not be home to ghosts and otherworldly spirits, but it’s almost certainly home to mold along with its illegal vegetation. Indoor marijuana cultivation requires levels of heat and humidity that produce condensation and make mold growth a near certainty.
Residents of the Brampton street are said to be taken completely by surprise by the presence of the alleged grow-op in their midst, but that’s often the point. In contrast to what many think of as back alley and slum condition illegal drug operations, traffickers often find upper middle class neighbourhoods like the Brampton area ideal. The houses and lots tend to be larger, meaning neighbours have less direct contact and there are fewer opportunities for passersby to see inside a building. The economic downturn of recent years means that vacant homes in those types of neighbourhoods aren’t uncommon and often attract little attention.
If you’re planning on purchasing a home, the realtor is obligated to let you know if it was used as a marijuana grow-op, however that fact may have gone unnoticed. While some, like the Brampton home, involve vacant homes where the entire building is used and it’s eventually uncovered, many other, smaller operations can exist in sections of an inhabited home – operations that are never discovered and brought to light, with the inherent problems, including mold and poor air quality issues, simply passed on to the next, unsuspecting buyer.
The only way to ensure peace of mind is to order grow-op testing from the experts at MoldInspections.ca. If you have any suspicions that a prospective or current property has been used as a grow-op, please call us for a quote today.
MoldInspections.ca is the trusted leader for mold-free homes and breathable indoor air spaces in Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and beyond. Providing certified mold inspection, detection and testing since 2005, we service home owners, real-estate agents, landlords, property managers, insurance companies and businesses. Featured on CTV and recommended by contractors, we regularly serve as expert witnesses in court proceeding relating to Mold and Indoor Air Quality issues. Do you have mold? Call us today for a free quote at (416) 575-6111.